Gustavo took the independent film scene by storm in the 90's with his very original and highly acclaimed take on post-Pinochet Chile with "Johnny 100 Pesos". The film became Chile's highest grossing movie and was selected as its official candidate for both the "Best Foreign Language Film" category in the 1993 Academy Awards, as well as the Spanish Goya Awards that same year. In the US, the film premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival where it became an instant success and was commercially released in the US to rave reviews from the indie press. Crowning its success, the film was invited to participate in A-list festivals such as Tokyo International Film Festival, New Directors New Films at the MOMA in New York, Toronto, and other prestigious festivals like Montreal, Los Angeles, San Sebastian, Munich, London, Stockholm, V'iennale, Sydney, Rio; and winning numerous awards including the Chilean film critics' Best Movie of the Year and 1st place at the "Mystery Film Festival" in Italy. "Johnny" went on to obtain worldwide distribution.